Reversible lift for furniture legs



C. G. SAVERINO REVERSIBLE LIFT FOR FURNITURE LEGS Filed Dec. 29, 1954 June 19, 1956 1 NVEN TOR (hwy/o 62/5 Jaw/2270.

United States Patent REVERSIBLE LTFT FQR FURNITURE LEGS Casimiro G. Saverino, East Paterson, N. 3.

Application December 29, 1954, Serial No. 478,327 1 Claim. (Cl. 45-437) This invention relates to a furniture leg extension and more particularly to such extensions for raising a selected distance the height of the articles of furniture, especially chairs.

The invention is more particularly concerned with means for supporting the lower ends of the legs of chrome chairs above the floor level at variable distances whereby the seat of the chair may be of proper height for a particular occupant with respect to a table or the like.

While little difi'iculty is experienced by adults seated around a table or the like, even though the chair seats be of limited variable height, it has been found that unless a chair seat is of proper height, children do experience considerable difliculty under such circumstances. While it is appreciated that the desirability of vertically adjusting chairs has heretofore been recognized and that efforts have been made to afford such adjustments as by means of leg supports, as disclosed, for example, in the patent to Nichthauser, No. 2,366,867, and the patent to Worgan, No. 2,633,898, such prior structures, nevertheless, have not filled the needs.

Having in mind the defects of the prior art structures, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a furniture leg extension capable of supporting a leg at a selected height.

Another object of the invention is to provide an elongated support capable of receiving a length of the end of a chair leg into one end thereof and a different length of the end of the chair leg into the opposite end thereof, whereby the chair will be elongated to different heights upon selectively resting one or the other end of the support on a floor.

A further object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary support member for removable disposition within either end of the elongated support for effecting further adjustments of the chair.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a floor engageable foot member which is frictionally engageable with and which seals either end of the elongated support, whereby the auxiliary support member is capable of being retained within the elongated support when not in use.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide a frictional locking means for retaining the elongated support in position against the action of gravity.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a furniture leg extension having simplicity, economy of design and construction and efliciency in operation.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claim. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts through the several figures and in which:

Figure 1 is a diametrical vertical sectional view of a chair leg end receiving and supporting cylindrical member embodied in the invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the cylindrical member;

Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 but showing in addition thereto a spacing member within the cylindrical member, the lower end of a chair leg supported in the cylindrical member and on the spacing member, a locking ring supported in the upper end of the cylindrical member in frictional engagement with the chair leg, and a foot member frictionally engaged with the lower end of the cylindrical member;

Figure 4 is a view corresponding to Figure 3 but wherein the cylindrical member has been reversed and the spacing member stored in the lower end of the cylindrical member and retained by a foot member in one of two embodiments thereof;

Figure 5 is a view corresponding to Figure 4 but wherein the spacing member is in supporting engagement with the chair leg end;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the locking ring;

Figure 7 is a plan view of the spacing member, and

Figure 8 is an elevational view of a chrome leg chair showing the invention applied thereto.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, it will be particularly observed that the leg extension comprises four separate but cooperative elements that are unitarily assembled and which include an elongated open ended cylindrical member 10, a relatively short cylindrical spacing member 11, a friction locking ring 12 and a floor engageable foot member 13 (Fig. 4) or 13a (Figs. 3 and 5). The cylindrical member 10, may be constructed of any desired metal or plastic and is provided with an intermediate stop, preferably in the form of an internal circumferential rib 14 which is disposed nearer one end of the cylindrical member than the opposite end thereof, the rib providing opposed shoulders 14a and 14b facing the respective opposite open ends of the member.

The inner Wall of the member 10 between the rib 14 and the opposite ends thereof is smooth so as not to wear the outer surfaces of chrome chair legs which are receivable within the member 14 from either end thereof. While in the drawing the chair leg L is shown in actual contact with the inner cylindrical wall of member 10, there will in practice be a small clearance to prevent frictional contact between the member and the chair leg. The member 10 is further provided with an internal recess 15 opening through each end thereof for a purpose later to appear.

The improved structure as disclosed is capable of four different ranges of vertical adjustment of a chair C shown as an example in Figure 8. The smallest range of adjustment is elfected with the member 10 positioned as in Figure 1 wherein the rib 14 is disposed nearer the floor engaging end of the cylindrical member and wherein the end of the chair leg L rests upon the shoulder 14a of the rib 14.

In the second range of vertical adjustment, as shown in Figure 3, all of the four elements 10, 11, 12 and 13a are shown in cooperative relation, the member 10 being disposed as in Figure 1 with the cylindrical spacing member 11 supported on the rib shoulder 14a and with the free end of the chair leg L mounted upon the upper end of the spacing member 11 whereby the chair will be elevated a vertical distance equal to the height of the shoulder 14a and the axial length of the spacing member. The member 10 is frictionally retained on the chair leg L by means of a rubber locking ring 12 which, upon assembly of the member 10 with the leg L, is first stripped over the leg and then forced into recess 15 upon upward movement of the member 10 on the leg. The ring or band 12 frictionally reacts upon the chair leg 3 and cylindrical wall of the recess to retain the member 10 on the leg L.

A floor engageable foot member is provided on the lower end of the member 10. This member may be of the cap form which is designated 13 in Figure 4, or it may be of plug form which is designated 13a in Figure 3, the difference between the two foot members being that the latter engages the member 10 internally thereof while the former engages the member 10 externally thereof. The foot member in each example thereof illustrated is preferably formed of rubber or like material for frictionally gripping the member 10.

The third range of vertical adjustment is illustrated in Figure 4 wherein the member 10 is in inverted position with respect to its position in Figures 1 and 3, whereby the rib is disposed at a greater distance from the floor and the end of leg L is mounted on the rib shoulder 145. It is to be observed that the form of foot member 13 shown in Figure 4 is preferred since it merely closes the adjacent end of member 10 and thereby provides for convenient housing of the spacing member 11 when the latter is not in use.

The fourth range of vertical adjustment of the leg L is illustrated in Figure 5 wherein member is disposed as in Figure 4 and the spacing member 11 is supported on shoulder 14b with the free end of the leg bearing upon the upper end of the spacing member.

It will be appreciated, from the foregoing disclosure, that the structure embodied in the present invention comprises relatively few, simple and sturdy elements, and the provision is made for four ranges of vertical adjustment of furniture legs. The rib 14 may of course be disposed nearer the adjacent end of member 10 or nearer the axial center of member 10 than as herein disclosed and the spacing member 11 may be of variable lengths. In fact, additional spacing members 11 may be provided for further ranges of vertical adjustment. While as shown and as preferred, member 10 is cylindrical, it may be tubular of various cross-sectional forms, and the spacing members of corresponding form for adjusting legs of cross-sectional forms other than cylindrical.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claim.

That which is claimed as new is:

Means for vertically adjusting the legs of a chair, comprising an elongated, open ended tubular member for snugly fitting on the lower free end portion of each leg, each tubular member having a fixed internal circumferential rib, the ribs of said members being uniformly spaced from the respective ends of said members, each rib providing a pair of axially spaced shoulders facing the opposite ends of the member, at least one of said shoulders being disposed nearer one end of the member than the other and said shoulders being selectively en gageable by the free end of the chair leg admitted into said member for difierent vertical adjustments of the leg with respect to the opposing ends of the member selectively supported on the floor, a spacing element receivable within either end of said member and engageable with a corresponding shoulder, said spacing element being engageable by the free end of the leg for further vertical adjustment thereof, a yieldable foot frictionally and removably engaged with that end of said member which engages the fioor and serving as a cushion and a removable closure therefor and defining within said member, between said rib and said foot, a chamber for housing said spacing element when the latter is not in use, the member being provided at each end thereof with an enlarged recess, and a deformable ring-like band engaged within one of said recesses for frictionally engaging upon the chair leg to retain the member on such leg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

